Economic determinism of marx PDF

Running head: ECONOMIC DETERMINISM OF MARX
Economic Determinism of Marx
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ECONOMIC DETERMINISM OF MARX1
Karl Marx was a political philosopher of the nineteenth century. Often considered as a
radical thinker, the political philosophy expounded by him is unique in all respects and marked
an important landmark in the evolution of political thinking. Born in Rhineland, in Germany in
1818, Karl Marx found himself attracted to communist thinking of political philosophy
(Barbalet). He is considered to be one of the most influential political thinkers of his time and
beyond. Karl Marx advocated the philosophy of communism, which was in complete contrast to
the existing power structure of the world at that time. This essay seeks to discuss about the
economic determinism approach of Karl Marx. He placed too much importance on the economic
structure of society, failing to take into cognizance the significance of other structures of society.
Kalr Marx was highly inspired by the works of Hegel and his theorization of Dialectical
Materialism. Hegel believed that the opinion of people put forth is known as the Thesis, the
counter to it is called the Antithesis and the conclusion reached by assessing both of them is
known as the Synthesis (MacGregor, 2015). Synthesis is the highest form of human knowledge.
Marx applied this Dialectical Materialism to his own concept of Historical Materialism.
Historical Materialism theorizes that economic development of society determines the nature of
society (MacGregor). The economic structure of the society was termed by Marx as the Super
Structure (Schmitt). It forms the foundation of the society, based on which all other aspects of
society, such as political, societal, cultural are determined. They form part of the Sub Structure
(Schmitt). As such, he opines that the economic conditions of the society, which determines all
other aspects of society. Marx gave more importance to the material structure of society than in
the concept of idea and human consciousness. He believed that it is the matter itself that shapes
the human conscience.